This year promises to be a big one for anniversaries. A hundred
years ago, the Wright brothers flew and Harley Davidson began to
rumble. In 1803, Lewis and Clark set out to explore the Louisiana
Purchase. But 2003 will also hold momentous events of its own
spelling challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs:

DVD recordables are still $800-plus products, says Tara Dunion,
director of the Consumer Electronics Association. That means
there's a short-term opportunity providing a service to convert
treasured tapes to DVD format (think wedding and baby videos).

Whenever a new device gains a wide following, says Dunion, an
aftermarket is sure to follow. That can mean everything from DVD
carrying cases (say, one with a licensed SpongeBob Squarepants
design on the cover for the kids' minivan movies) to
cigarette-lighter chargers for portable DVD players.

Already run a video store? Time to accelerate your DVD
transition, and think about renting DVD players to accommodate VHS
clients who desire DVD-only releases.

HIPAA Regulations Take
Effect: On April 14, the federal government institutes
new health-care privacy regulations based on the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Entrepreneurial firms such as NaviMedix Inc. will profit from
the deadline. NaviMedix provides a Web-based repository of medical
offices' information. In addition to making it possible to
check patients' eligibility under their health plans, the
company also acts as a vault for records, customizing features to
adhere to the privacy procedures of individual medical
practices.

There's non-tech opportunity as well. "A lot of offices
are still fairly paper-based," says Lynne Dunbrack,
NaviMedix's director of HIPAA compliance. That means each
practice's "gatekeeper" needs training in what
information can be given to whom, and procedures such as verifying
identities when accessing paper files.

The same training will go on at insurance companies and their
partners, including software providers like NaviMedix itself. But
doctors' offices are a golden opportunity because turnover is
high, and regulations require existing staff to take refresher
courses.

Video on Demand Becomes
Reality: Video-on-demand has been heralded as the next
big thing for more than a decade. This time it's for real.
Really. By midyear, cable companies will be running large-scale
trials.

Still dubious? "The industry itself was skeptical,"
says Steve Fredrick of Novak Biddle Venture Partners. "There
were a lot of things that needed to come together, but by all
measures, we've met critical mass." (Translation: The
cable companies have spent so much money that it has to
succeed.)

Other than the cable, says Fredrick, almost every component in
the video food chain is wide open. Among the areas ripe for
activity: technologies to distribute multiple video streams over
digital cable, new content providers and new advertising
models.

One reason for optimism is the rocket-like takeoff of video
recorders like TiVo. "Video-on-demand deploys that
functionality, but the hardware is in the network," says
Fredrick. "It will do for video and movies what the Web did
for static text."

Fuel-Cell Technology Takes
Off: The media have fawned over fuel cells for years,
but usually for cars. (Fuel cells convert fuel to electricity with
minimal pollution.) But the initial consumer application of the
technology may come in a smaller format: handheld computers.

MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. of Albany, New York, completed three
technology prototypes last year. This year, the company is
launching product prototypes with an eye toward a 2004 rollout.
Competitors are trying to beat it to the punch.

Fuel cells outlast lithium ion batteries, today's portable
power champ. "Electronics are going to a 24/7 mode of
operation," says Bill Acker, MicroFuel's president and
CEO. Fuel cell PDAs and mobile phones won't conk out before
your day ends. The extra juice is also enabling such combinations
as digital cameras that link to mobile phones.

Applying fuel cells to other devices will also open new
opportunities. Think of wireless speakers. Rather than substituting
a dangling power cord for dangling speaker wire, build a fuel cell
and wireless connection into the speakers-and, suddenly, they can
be anywhere in a living room.

The most important event is unknown, however. Out there
somewhere is a start-up whose launch will make us look back on 2003
as the beginning of a glorious epoch. Its product might even be as
momentous as the one invented by two brothers toiling on North
Carolina's Outer Banks.